British Music

[Albion]

I have just uploaded some further recordings from my collection: the astonishingly-Elgarian cantata Hymn of Faith (1905) by Sir Ivor Atkins and three works published by the United Kingdom Carnegie Trust in the 1920s - Ina Boyle's The Magic Harp, Lawrence Collingwood's Poeme symphonique and Edward Mitchell's Fantasy Overture.

The Carnegie Trust subsidised the first publications (by Stainer & Bell) of several important British works including Vaughan Williams' London Symphony, Holst's The Hymn of Jesus, Rutland Boughton's The Immortal Hour, Frank Bridge's The Sea, Bantock's Hebridean Symphony, Stanford's 5th Symphony and The Travelling Companion, Cyril Scott's Nativity Hymn, McEwen's Solway Symphony, Gurney's Ludlow and Teme, Finzi's Severn Rhapsody and Warlock's The Curlew.

The three lesser-known works by Boyle (the only female composer represented under the scheme), Collingwood and Mitchell can be found, together with the Atkins cantata, in Folder 6 of British Music Broadcasts.

Happy listening! 

[Dylan]

A quick word of thanks for this treasure trove - - some familiar, some not. Mind, sometimes some of the BBC's scrappier studio performances induce more than one wince ( the Stanford overture in particular could have done with a couple more rehearsals ) but then again others are remarkably capable: in particular let me commend to the curious Bantock's marvelously atmospheric "Sea Wanderers" , Mackenzies surprisingly  (though why surprisingly?) passionate "Rose of Sharon", and Julius Benedicts robustly enjoyable symphony - who knew? (And one day I will sit down and really try to get my head round which permutations of the various Potter symphonies I know/don't know.)

[Albion]

Mind, sometimes some of the BBC's scrappier studio performances induce more than one wince ( the Stanford overture in particular could have done with a couple more rehearsals ) but then again others are remarkably capable

There is indeed an air of 'sight-reading' to some of these studio broadcasts! Still, it would be better than nothing if the BBC Philharmonic or Symphony Orchestra could be persuaded to sight-read it's way through Holbrooke's Apollo and the Seaman (with the men of the BBC Singers sight-reading the Finale) or Mackenzie's Suite London Day by Day. 

This is precisely what happened with the unheard broadcast of Cowen's 5th Symphony - with some rehearsal time left after recording another better-known piece for the 'British Symphonies' series (2007), Lewis Foreman (oh, blessed name) suggested they exhume the parts for the Cowen from the bowels of the BBC Library and just set it down. However rough the rendition, I'd still love to hear it (alas, enquiries have elicited no reply from Auntie as yet).   

[jimmattt]

Thank you so much, Albion, for music I never would  have got to hear otherwise, will enjoy hearing more Potter and all the rest. I am sorry I can't add anything, I only keyed into BBC and the internet a few years ago. There is a recording of Prout's Organ Concerto, Opus 5 (1870)on a CD from the Round Lake (New York) Summer Festival Orchestra featuring an organ in what was essentially an open air pavilion for many years. CDRL 101, probably out of print. What are the rules of uploading such if anyone were interested?

[Albion]

What are the rules of uploading such if anyone were interested?

Hi Jim, it's very easy to set up a free basic account with media fire (http://www.mediafire.com/) although other types of account are charged - all you need is an email address. It takes a bit of time to work out the procedure, but once you have it's quite straightforward.

You can upload any type of files from your computer (mp3, wma, doc, etc.) and then choose to share them. Regarding the 'rules', I don't really know - personally, I wouldn't upload any recording that was commercially available. 

[Mark Thomas]

I'd certainly delete any link to a rip of a commercially available recording. Please don't do that. That includes links to the thousands which are to be found on YouTube btw. Public domain, private recordings and rips of free-to-air radio broadcasts are fine, but it's always better to acknowledge the source (if you know it).

[jimmattt]

My euphoric cloud allowed me to neglect thanking Mark for the Prout upload, and no I don't plan to upload anything that deprives anyone of their rights, God knows the plight of any composer or record company, and all concerned could use a good infusion of resources, wonder how much our American guns would help if they were beaten into metronomes? just askin'.

[Albion]

wonder how much our American guns would help if they were beaten into metronomes?

Indeed!

I'm reminded of Sir Alexander Mackenzie's pithily ironic response to the pianist Frederick Dawson when he found that the music plates of publishing houses in Germany were being melted down by the authorities in order to manufacture bullets during World War I - "no doubt by this time the [Scottish] concerto has been re-cast in another form, less musical, but more effective perhaps".

[JimL]

wonder how much our American guns would help if they were beaten into metronomes?

Indeed!

I'm reminded of Sir Alexander Mackenzie's pithily ironic response to the pianist Frederick Dawson when he found that the music plates of publishing houses in Germany were being melted down by the authorities in order to manufacture bullets during World War I - "no doubt by this time the [Scottish] concerto has been re-cast in another form, less musical, but more effective perhaps".

I wonder how many unsung works were lost in this manner - first the plates were melted down in WWI, then the MS were bombed out of existence in WWII?

[eschiss1]

I wonder how many unsung works were lost in this manner - first the plates were melted down in WWI, then the MS were bombed out of existence in WWII?

Too many?
Add a few other common means and... way too many.
Up with library preservation of all kinds, including but not limited to digitization... (reminded of tales I've heard, possibly unreliable it's true... of the amount of funds the US Library of Congress is, or was, given for modernization and security as against preservation and such things... security I get and approve of, indeed, but... of course, they do have a substantial digitized collection, fortunately.)
Eric

[dafrieze]

The recording of the Julius Benedict symphony, if it's the same one I have in my collection (and it probably is), is by Myer Fredman and the Ulster Orchestra.

[Albion]

The recording of the Julius Benedict symphony, if it's the same one I have in my collection (and it probably is), is by Myer Fredman and the Ulster Orchestra.

Many thanks for this information. I certainly don't think that there would have been two separate broadcasts, so I've amended the file details accordingly. If you happen to have a broadcast date, please could you let me know?

The latest broadcasts (Smith, Parry and Howell) are all uploaded now. 

[dafrieze]

Albion:  I do have recordings of the Cyril Rootham and Joseph Holbrooke pieces you've mentioned in the last few postings - they're all mp3'd and stored in iTunes and on my iPod - but I have no idea how to get them to you.  Can you help?

[Albion]

Albion:  I do have recordings of the Cyril Rootham and Joseph Holbrooke pieces you've mentioned in the last few postings - they're all mp3'd and stored in iTunes and on my iPod - but I have no idea how to get them to you.  Can you help?

If you could possibly get them to me that would be brilliant - many thanks!

If they're stored as mp3 files on your computer, I think that you can just attach them to an email and send them that way. Big files will take quite a time to attach themselves. There are useful links here http://www.ehow.com/how_6933996_send-mp3-file.html
and here http://www.ehow.com/how_6062521_send-large-mp3-files-email.html

I've sent you my email address via a personal message through the forum.

If this is incorrect, please could somebody more file-literate than myself advise?

[Albion]

Albion:  I do have recordings of the Cyril Rootham and Joseph Holbrooke pieces you've mentioned in the last few postings - they're all mp3'd and stored in iTunes and on my iPod - but I have no idea how to get them to you.  Can you help?

Through the very kind generosity of our member dafrieze I've just received recordings of several important and exciting broadcasts:

Holbrooke: The Bells (broadcast 1978)
Rootham: Rhapsody on the tune 'Lazarus' (broadcast 1987)
Rootham: Ode on the Morning of Christ's Nativity (broadcast 1975)
Rootham: Symphony No.2 (Revelation) (broadcast 1984)

I have his permission to upload them into a BMB folder. I've gathered the relevant information and dates together into Folder 7 and will create a link later today.